It really does look like ESPN is just moving to cover their asses in the follow up to their exposé on the Ohio State football program. They decided to make a big splash with accusations from a player (Clarett) who was sworn to "get" OSU. They then backed it up with quotes from other ex-players or never-were players who had various reasons to grind an axe with Tressel and/or the program.
After taking some justifiable criticism for the credibility of these sources, ESPN has come back with "the son of a former Buckeyes assistant coach, an Academic All-Big Ten selection and a current NFL player", namely Fred Pagac, Jack Tucker and Drew Carter, to bolster their case. First, Buckeye fans know that all three of these guys also had their issues with Tressel with regard to playing time or, in Pagac's case, the perceived slight of his father as a coach by Tressel.
But more importantly, in any of the various ESPN articles on the alleged sins of OSU's football program, from over-willing tutors for players, to cash gifts from boosters, to vehicles driven by Clarett, nowhere is there any evidence cited by ESPN to show that any of these activities were directed, suggested, sanctioned or supported by Tressel or anyone on his staff or the larger OSU football program.
After the initial series of articles, Athletic Director Andy Geiger characterized some of the ex-players quoted in support of Clarett as "colossal failures". It's apparent that ESPN took those comments back to other former Buckeyes like Carter to say, in effect, "here's what Andy Geiger is saying about your friends and former teammates", in attempt to provoke a reaction. Surprise. They got one.
The little feud that has developed between Andy Geiger and ESPN has become a bit silly too. Depending on which side you believe, ESPN either did or did not plan to have the College GameDay show live from Columbus for the OSU-Michigan game. What you can assume is true is that the network wasn't completely welcome on campus on the heels of the latest salvo in their ongoing war on the program. ESPN denied that they ever planned to have GameDay in Columbus, what with the customary lustre of The Game supposedly absent this year. They had planned all along, they claimed, to go out to the Utah-BYU venue, so rich with tradition and pageantry is that annual clash.
What is almost as bad as this smear job without a shred of evidence of institutional involvement, is the lack of any balance in the reporting. The fact that Tressel has significantly improved the academic performance of the program in his four years, tripling the graduation rate, largely by upgrading the caliber of athletes that are recruited to the school, is not given much notice by the ESPN sleuths.
The network keeps right on reporting their own magazine's cover story as breaking news, as in this report today, saying that Andy Geiger "is not concerned about the latest allegations". Geiger has called the network's bluff, saying Ohio State wants to interview all three players quoted as sources for the ESPN story. We'll see how the quotes used by ESPN hold up when put into context.
If the network had no evidence of institutional involvement at OSU in whatever questionable academic or booster practices the players allege, I can't see the legitimate reason for this crusade. The original Clarett article was designed (by him) to use ESPN to try to burnish his damaged image with NFL people, and the network foolishly went along for the ride. Now their anti-OSU agenda is becoming pretty transparent. Why Ohio State, guys?
A college professor posting to the Bucknuts.com forum suggests ESPN conduct a "parallel" investigation in the interest of maintaining their objectivity. Somewhere say, down south...
As a university professor, we "fight the good fight" constantly, trying to keep cheating to a minimum. But there is an avalanche of research out there folks that suggests that cheating at the college/university level is substantial. And clearly it is a bigger problem among students that are in networks or collectives of some sort (e.g., fraternities and sororities). If ESPN's smoking gun is that some players cheat to get by in college, then why not place it in a larger context that shows that many of their non-student athletes are cheating right along with them?By the way, why doesn't ESPN run a parallel "investigative news theme" on the other university that played for the 2002 National Championship--Miami? Does anyone think that the whole Johnson fiasco (documented plagurism case) was just an aberrant case? I live down here in South Florida and I have "close contacts" with people at U of Miami and if ESPN really wants to do a fair and balanced story, come on down. Take a look at the cars the players drive on campus--players who typically come from the most depressed economic conditions imaginable. Take a look at the clothes and the bling-bling the players wear. Go to some of the hot spots on South Beach and see these athletes from these extremely poor families partying like VIPs. Come on ESPN, take a look at Miami and investigate the same basic issues that you have "investigated" at OSU.
Or is it just about Ohio State?
Posted by dan at November 26, 2004 11:28 AM